As we said before, Jesus was being tested by the Pharisees and the Sadducees in order that they might trap Him in something and have Him arrested. The Sadducees had asked a question, and now the Pharisees try again with their own question. What is the greatest commandment? Once again they thought that they had asked a question that would have Jesus in trouble no matter what He answered.
Jesus took His answers from the Old Testament which was a good idea since that is what the Pharisees knew and trusted. There were two places in the Old Testament that talked about the greatest Commandment. At one place it said that the greatest was “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, Soul and mind”.
Then in another place it says “Love your Neighbor as yourself”. Jesus was the first person to take these two and combine them into one phrase “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.”
When you put these two together the central thought is that “it is not about YOU”. Jesus is smart to say that the greatest commandment is to put yourself last. Someone recently said that the key word is J.O.Y. Jesus, Others and Yourself. If we keep this order in our life we are following in the way of Christ. Jesus meet the Pharisees at their own game when He quotes the Old Testament and yet gets this brand new idea into their thoughts. The Pharisees hated it, they were beaten again.
By Jesus definition, what kind of “lover” are you?
In what way do you want to grow right now in your life?
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